1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a shielded connector and to a shielding shell.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H11-265754 discloses a shielded connector in which shielding shells are provided in a male housing and a female housing that are connectable with each other. The shielding shells connect when the housings are connected with each other to shield an electrically conducting path in the housings. However, the shielding shell of the male housing is configured differently than the shielding shell of the female housing. Thus, the above-described connector requires two kinds of shielding shells, leading to increased production costs.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H08-88050 discloses a shielded connector with a female housing that has a terminal accommodating portion and a male housing that has a receptacle. A tubular shielding shell is mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the terminal accommodating portion of the female housing and a mating shell is provided in the male housing. The shielding shell of the female housing is connected with the mating shell by fitting the receptacle of the male housing on the terminal accommodating portion. More particularly, the mating shell of the male housing is inserted into a clearance between the outer peripheral surface of the terminal accommodating portion and the inner peripheral surface of the shielding shell. However, the leading end of the shielding shell is distanced from the outer peripheral surface of the terminal accommodating portion in this construction. Thus, the leading end of the receptacle might interfere with the leading end of the shielding shell if the axial lines of the male and female housings are inclined during connection. This interference could inadvertently deform the shielding shell.
The invention was developed in view of the above situation and an object thereof is to improve operability.